Afghan Biographies

Mohammad, Haji Din

Name

Mohammad, Haji Din

Ethnic backgr.

Pashtun

Date of birth

1953

Function/Grade

Ex-Governor

History and Biodata

2. Previous Functions of Haji Din Mohammad:Deputy of the Hezb-e-Islami Party of Younus Khalis, Minister of National Security in Afghanistan’s Interim Government in Exile during the 1990s and as Minister of Education in the Mujaheddin Government which was established after the collapse of the Communist government. Deputy Prime Minister in the same period, but resigned when infighting erupted among the rival factions of Ahmad Shah Massoud and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Governor of Nangarhar Province after the Soviet Occupation, Governor of Nangarhar (2002 - 2004), Governor of Kabul Province (2005 - 2009),Advisor and Chairman of Contact Committee of the Peace Council (2011, 2012)Nominated Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs (20120902)Minister of Border and tribal affairs nominated, not approved by Wolesi Jirga (20120915)

3. Biodata:Haji Din Mohammad was born 1953 in Surkhrod District Nangahar Province. He is a member of the influential Arsala clan of the Jabbarkhel tribe. Recent Arsala leaders have included his brothers, Abdul Haq, who was executed, along with Din Muhammad’s son, trying to ferment an anti-Taleban uprising in late 2001, Haji Qadir, who as vice president and minister for public works, was assassinated in Kabul in 2002, Baryalai Arsala, who ran against Karzai for the presidency in 2009 (he left the race in favour of Dr Abdullah) and Haji Zahir Qadir, deputy speaker of parliament and currently the most powerful member of the clan.

Din Muhammad was first deputy leader of one of the seven Sunni mujahedin parties, Hezb-e Islami - Khales (the other deputy was Jalaluddin Haqqani) and held various ministries in mujahedin governments-in-exile in Peshawar in the 1980s and then in the mujahedin government in Kabul (resigning after factional fighting broke out). In the post-2001 period, he has been a senator, governor of both Nangarhar and Kabul and the president's ministerial advisor on tribal affairs. He also ran Karzai’s second election campaign, controversially, after the president pardoned his nephew, Bilal Wali Muhammad, who had been sentenced to nineteen years for drugs trafficking

He served as Governor of Nangarhar Province. He comes from a distinguished Pashtun family which has served the nation of Afghanistan for more than 150 years. His great-grandfather, Wazir Arsala Khan, served as Foreign Minister of Afghanistan in 1869. One of Arsala Khan's descendents, Taj Mohammad Khan, was a general at the Battle of Maiwand. Another descendant, Abdul Jabbar Khan, was Afghanistan’s first ambassador to Russia.

Haji Din Mohammad’s father, Amanullah Khan Jabbarkhail, served as a district administer in various parts of the country. Two of his uncles, Mohammad Rafiq Khan Jabbarkhail and Haji Zaman Khan Jabbarkhail, were members of the 7th session of the Afghan Parliament which worked to expand the rights of ordinary citizens under the monarchy.

Haji Din Mohammad’s brothers Abdul Haq and Haji Abdul Qadir were Mujahideen commanders who fought against the forces of the USSR during the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan from 1980 through 1989. In 2001, Abdul Haq was captured and executed by the Taliban while pursuing efforts to promote the formation of a broad-based representative government.

Haji Abdul Qadir served as a Governor of Nangarhar Province after the Soviet Occupation and was credited with maintaining peace in the province during the years of civil conflict that followed the Soviet withdrawal. Haji Abdul Qadir served as a Vice President in the newly formed post-Taliban government of Hamid Karzai, but was assassinated by unknown assailants in 2002. During the Taliban Era, Haji Din Mohammad lived in exile and later helped Abdul Haq in his efforts to establish a broad-based post-Taliban government.

Haji Din Mohammad's son Ezatullah Sahil was captured and killed by the Taliban along with Abdul Haq in 2001. Haji Din Mohammad and his brother Haji Nasrullah Baryalai Arsalai remain committed to the principles of inclusive government and reconciliation among competing factions in Afghanistan, and have been active in promoting the economic development and reconstruction of Afghan society after decades of chaos and violence. Haji Din Mohammad became governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar after the assassination of his brother, Haji Abdul Qadir, in July 2002. He later became Governor of Kabul Province.

It has been reported that the former Kabul Governor, Haji Din Mohammad, has been appointed as the new governor for Herat.(20130212)